What is it like to be the son of Manchester United hero Steve Bruce and wearing a Leeds shirt?

The dream for Alex
Bruce was always to
follow in his father’s
footsteps as an
integral part of a
title-winning Manchester
United team, and he freely
admits the night it was dashed
will never leave him.

He had arrived at the club’s
academy as a budding Ruud van
Nistelrooy and been forced to accept
a change of role to midfield, but he
still felt he had done enough to earn
a full-time contract.

Sitting nervously alongside his
mates outside an interview room at
the Carrington training ground, his
turn finally arrived to discover his
fate. What followed left him shattered
and fearing his career was over
before it had begun.

Like father like son: Alex Bruce at Leeds training ground in Thorpe Arch

Inadvertently, it
also added a steely edge to his game
that almost helped Leeds beat
Arsenal in the FA Cup 11 days ago
and could finally finish them off in
tonight’s replay at Elland Road.

‘With my dad playing for United, I
was basically brought up at the place,’ he said.

‘I was taken on as a
striker at nine years old and was 16
when decision time arrived. I had
been switched to midfield but had
done all right and was hopeful.

Chip off the old block: Alex Bruce is a no-nonsense centre half in the same mould as his father, Steve

‘I remember being called over to
Carrington on a Tuesday night. We
all had individual appointments, and
you could feel the tension.

'I was sat
next to my best mate Phil Bardsley,
and we were both on edge, wondering
whether we had done enough. It looked promising, though,
because one after another went in
and came out a couple of minutes
later, happy as Larry.

'One or two
were real borderline cases but were
being kept on. My turn came, and in I went. As I
sat down and looked at Les Kershaw
and Paul McGuinness, they just
blurted out “Sorry” and made an
excuse about how they didn’t feel
they had a proper position for me
and couldn’t see me holding down a
regular spot.

'They added it might be
the right time to move on and have a
crack elsewhere, and that was it.

‘I was the only one being released,
and I had to step out of that office,
look the rest of the lads in the eye
and wish them all the best. Rejection
is a horrible thing, and at that moment, it was the worst feeling I’d
ever had.

‘I was devastated, and it didn’t help
having to break the news to my mum
and dad and sister Amy. My dad was
often playing for United when I was
banging the goals in as a kid, but
mum and Amy were always there on
the touchline in all weathers.

'It hurt
having to tell them I hadn’t made it. It’s something I will always think
about, but at least it made me say to
myself, “I’m going to get to grips with
this now and prove that those people
who let me go were wrong”.

‘Looking back, it’s probably the best
thing I ever did, leaving United and
going to Blackburn. The academy
directors there got hold of me, saw I
had the makings of a centre half and
began moulding me into one.

'They
taught me about the position and
what a winning mentality was all
about, and I owe them so much.’

Bruce’s summer move from Ipswich
to Leeds reunited him with keeper
and childhood pal Kasper Schmeichel,
reviving memories of a celebrated
double act at Old Trafford, where
their fathers, Steve and Peter respectively,
filled the same positions.

United stalwart: Steve Bruce was a massive success at Old Trafford

‘Kasper is just the same as his dad
and lets you know if you get something
wrong,’ said Bruce, 26.

‘It raised
a few eyebrows when we were suddenly
thrown into the same team,
and how we perform as a defence
seems to be highlighted more.

‘But we go back a long way. We were
next-door neighbours in Bramhall,
near Manchester, when our dads
were at United, and we were out on
the street kicking a ball about every
night.

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'Kasper would go in goal, and I
would be in someone’s garden, trying
to bend the ball round a tree and stick
one past him. We would be out there
all hours, belting balls at each other.’

As the son of a former Manchester
United player, it has taken time for
Bruce – and Schmeichel – to win over
the fiercely tribal Leeds fans. His
father, however, will be in the stand
tonight as Leeds chase a fourth-round
place.

‘One mistake, and he will
jump on it. If he doesn’t, my mum’s
not far behind. She knows her stuff
and is coming to the replay, too.

‘I remember the home game with
Cardiff, when Kasper and I let the ball
land between us, and Jay Bothroyd
nipped in to score. My dad said,
“What are you doing, letting it
bounce? Get your head on it, son.”

‘When you’ve got a dad who’s had
such a successful career, you have to
get used to comparisons.

'People
make judgments, but it doesn’t
bother me. I am very proud to be his
son. He won titles and cups at United
and achieved everything except an
England cap, which was a complete
injustice.

'I’m proud to call him my
dad, and if I can turn out to be even
half as good as he was, I’ll be happy.’